County broke hearing rules, resident says

Wednesday

Apr 26, 2006 at 12:01 AM

SUSAN LATHAM CARRStaff Writer

OCALA - A resident unhappy with the Marion County Commission's decision to give a special-use permit for a sand mine off County Road 25 has filed a complaint in court saying the county violated its own rules by not notifying all the area property owners about the public hearing.
"It's the only way we can get it back in front of the Board of County Commissioners," said Michele Kirk, who filed the complaint. "I'm a property owner. They just broke ground on my house. He didn't appropriately notify the property owners. I was never notified this was going on. I found out from my father-in-law."
County Attorney Gordon Johnston said he has not yet been served with the complaint, which was filed in Marion County Circuit Court on April 19.
Kirk is building a new house near the sand mine that commissioners approved for C&K Investments Inc., owned by road builder Steven Counts.
"This is my dream," Kirk said about her new house. "The property value and house value is going to go down, and it's not even built yet."
Counts could not be reached for comment. At the public hearing, he said sand was needed in that area of the county so it does not have to be trucked long distances causing wear and tear on more county roads.
Kirk said she is one of four people who did not receive notices about the hearing for the special permit. She is not alone in her concerns about the sand pit, which sits on 39.6 acres on the north side of CR 25, 0.7 miles west of Del Webb Boulevard and 1.5 miles east of Belleview.
Belleview City Clerk Sandi McKamey wrote a letter to County Administrator Patrick Howard saying the City Commission is "extremely concerned about the increased truck traffic on C-25" that would be generated by the sand mine.
The railroad crossing already backs up traffic, McKamey wrote, and the Belleview bypass is not scheduled for another 10 years.
She asked whether the County Commission could consider approving the pit at an alternate site or speed up improvements to CR 25.
Howard replied that, normally, decisions on special-use permits are not reviewed unless appealed by the applicant. There is a need for sand in the area, he wrote.
The commission, by a vote of 4-1, approved the permit on March 21, even though a petition signed by 284 area residents objected to the mine and the county's zoning board and planning staff recommended denial.
The planning staff said the mine was incompatible with the neighborhood and would impact CR 25, which is a two-lane road.
When operating at maximum capacity, there would be 15 to 19 trucks an hour using the road.
Commissioner Andy Kesselring cast the lone dissenting vote. He said there was insufficient buffering.
The commission placed stipulations on the mine owners to lessen impacts as part of the approval.
Commissioner Charlie Stone said Tuesday that there is a need for sand in that area because of all the construction.
Steve Weitlauf, a real estate broker from Homerun Realty, said that, at the time of the commission's decision, there were two permitted sand mines for sale in the area.
One was the John L. Finch Contracting Corp. property south of CR 25 off Southeast 104th Terrace at the top of Candler hill. The other was 40 acres off Southwest 38th Street owned by Richard Barner Sr.
Both properties are now under contract, Weitlauf said.
"They said there were not any sand pits and there was a shortage," Weitlauf said. "It really was not true."
Stone said he was unaware of those sand mines when the commission voted to approve the mine for C&K Investments.
Another property owner, Belinda Thomas, said no one addressed the property owners' concerns at the public hearing.
"Everybody was pretty upset because they didn't address any of the issues we brought up to them about the water, about the traffic here, the highways, nothing," Thomas said.
_____________
Susan Latham Carr may be reached at susan.carr@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4156.